Heaver-than-air flying-machine.



E. lffiHCIiOlS. HEAVIER-AN-AIH FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man sEPT.25, 1909.

` latannl Apr. 6, 19m 4 MEETS-SHEET 2.

c. MCHGLS.'

HEAVlER-THAN-AIR FLYING MACHINE.

APPucATloN man sEPT.25, 1909.

@tamed Apr. 6, 1935.

'4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. B. NICHOLS.

HEAVlER-THAN-MR FLYING MACHINE. APPLlcAloN HLD'sEPTJs, |909.

4 BHLEETSMHEET 4.

'inrit/1.110

. fio-imag Patented Apr. 6, i915.

The frame 3 carries bearings 6 in which the propeller shafts 'l are mounted. Thepropellers 8 are mounted on the shafts 7 and are arranged in front of the aeroplane 1. The propeller shafts 7 -are mounted upon the `frame 3.011 a horizontal line with the center of `resistance ofthe machine, the center of resistance being understood to mean the mathematical line which forms thecen ter of equilibrium. with reference to the forward flight of the machine. From theuipright main frame 32l a rearwardly projecting strut 9 connects with the frame-work of the boat and thus forms a rigid support for the propellers and for the attachmentJ of ,the aeroplane to the frame-work. The boat 1frame is continued forward and forms a frame-work for supporting the forward plane. Tn the forward portion of this frame-work a vertical guiding plane 10 is mounted up'on anaxle 11, which terminates at its lower end 4in a journal bearing 12 that is mounted upon the axle 15 of thehorizontal rudder 14.- 'The journal bearing l2 is loosely mounted upon the axle 15 in such manner that the axle may vturn without effecting any twisting movement upon the journal 12. Thus it will be seen that the vertical rudder 10 is mounted on a longitudinal center line'of the horizontal rudder 14,

in such manner that movements of the horizontal rudder do .not a'ect the relationship of the vertical rudder.

. To the upper end of the axle lrl'of thel vertical rudder 10 is attached a cross piece 16 to which control cable 17 i's attached, and

from this cross piece it is carried rearwardly into the boat portion of the machine to steering mechanism,t which will be hereinafter more specifically` described. 'The' axle 15 of the-horizontal rudder 14 is also provided with a Across piece 18 to which is attached the control cable L9 that is also carried into the boat portion of the machine to the steerj ing mechanism. y

The motor 20 is located in the forward portion of the boat, and is provided with a Asheaved drum, or driving'p-ul'ley 2l, over which the driving cables 22 run to the pul-v leys 24 onv the propeller'shafts 7. The exhaust for the engine is carried readwardly, andterminates in a downwardly curved tube 25, which projects from 'the boat just above the water line when the boat is in the water. The downward direction of this tube 25 enables the gases, whichareejected from the exhaust of the engine, to strike upon the. water, and by the re-a'ction from' the How of the gas, to tend in a slight measure to assist the boat and the machine in its forward movement during the moment of sta rting.

Beneath thefoot rest 26 is carried a reservoir 27, which is adapted to be filled with Oil. Projecting from the foot rest is a small Liset/eo pneumatic foot pump, which enables the operator,v to compress the air within the oil reservoir and thus force the loil through the tube 28, out into a discharge tube 29 which is arranged longitudinally across vthe bow of the boat.` This tube 29 is provided at intervals with small openings 30 in order tov distribute the oil uniformly over the water, at vand under the front of the boat, the ob ject of this oil supply 'being to'enable the op- -erator to eject oil upon the water at the mofrom the water and begin its flight in theA air.

The aviators seat 31 is located back of the motor 20, and is attached by means of the supports 32 to the frame-work of the machine;v The rear portion of the boat terminates in parallel members 34 which are curved with reference to the horizontal plane. The tail 35', is provided with members 36, that are slidable upon this parallel frame. The rear portion of the frame car- -ries a pulleyI 37 over which the control cable 38 is adapted to pass. This cable is continuous, and passes around the operating pulley ordrum 39, which will hereinafter be more specifically described. The small pulleys 40 are for the purpose of guiding the cable 38. Y f

The front vertical rudder 10 is formed in the shape of a plane. The horizontal guiding rudder 14 is formed with its surface having a slight downward curve atjthe rear of the rudder. The tail member 35 is formed with a frame-work which carries varnished or vulcanized silk, which is stretched upon 'the framework inl such manner as to have a curvaturevboth in longitudinal and lateral direction. The Ivertical member 41 is rigidlyattached onthe longi tudinal center line of the tail and is in the form of a plane. This vertical plane '41 is immovable with reference to the tail itself.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 3,` 5, G, 7 and 8 the steering mechanism, for an up vand down direction, consists of` mechanism whereby any one of the horizontal planes including the aeroplane itself, lmay be adjusted either independently or incombination with any other horizontal plane.' That is, the aeroplane may be adjusted to a certain angle of incidence, and the front horizontal rudder and tail controlled independently of the adjustment of the aeroplane; the tail may be adjusted with a definite angle of incidence, and the front plane may be controlled independently' of either the aeroplane or the tail; and lastly the aeroplane, `front rudder and tail may be simultaine/ieee? eeee'eiy e'djeeeea te veeying'eeieeene; Thief single, multiple, or' Acombined contrdl is e-A fected by means of three levers.- The` shaftv 42 is mounted uponbea'rin'gs 44 whiehare carried by the boat structure.- The gear 5fis rigidly mounted upon the 'shaft42 and engages the rack 45 in the link 4' which is piv# oted. to the .aeroplane 'frame' at f 46. "The control lever 48 isrigidly mounted ended Aoperates 'with a notched segment 49 that is'- y mounted upon the frame-work of -the boat I havel designated the lever 48 as a three-ele!" ment controllever for the reason that this lever-when' operated, moves vthe horiiionta-l'.v

` fren-e rudder, the -eereple'ne and vene een.

"upon thesh'aft '42.' Thie lever 50 engages the segment 51' fvvklii'chfis fie'dly attachedftof', the shafteQ-LfjTheone lever oontrol`^52 is v fixedly mounted upona s'fn'all pulley, which 4ca'rriestlle cable running. tio the front horizontalruddeyand cop'erates with'theA 'segment -54 that is Xedy mounten upon the large pulley se'. n vnu be eeeeejhae' if ehethree .con-trol' lever 48' be'. operatedQit will s o l.all of the parts that arein fined engagement with the shaft.' Since the twoA controlv lever.,

- f -50 engages the segment rigidly-mounted upon' the shaft/12,. and the-'one ,controlflever' 52 engages :the segment on the .two control leven 50, it will be seen that-when. .the thjrfee: I cdntroi lever 48 'is operated, both the levers' y50 and 5:2 will'be movedw'ith the'.shaft 42, i

' siioe' the two Vcontrol lever. engagement with the vsexggmen't carried upon this sh-aft,-

ditions -which may arise 'due -t o striking an relative tothe frame-work of the machine,

But since the one control lever 52 engages the segment 54', carried upon the' pulley 39,

b"that is attached to the twozcont'rol lever 150,

is operated it adjusts boththe` tail and the GQ forward rudder;simultaneo'uSly. Lastlythev 'l one control lever. is attached to,` the pulley Therefore, theoperation ofv this' leverwill move onlythefront guiding' plar'ie'.-

It will be seen-that the aviator is given ja',-

it follows that whenthe two .control lever 53 which controls the front `horizontal plane.

great range of vertical control over the machine, and the'variouevertieal controls of the planes may be set in anyone position,

eitherduring flight or before the flight is commended.

Thexeable 19 is attae'hed to one endof crss piece 18 that is 'Xedly mounted upon the -aX-le .l'whichj' Carries the front horizon- 'tal rudder. This ea'ble passes around the small pulley 53 that is mounted upon the shaft 42, and is' attached to 4theother end of the' @ress pieee 18 on the horizontal rud' der ailel'; Thus it will be l seel' that `by rotatingthe pulley 53, the angle of incidence y of thefront rudder is controlledv nThe rear cable 38 is'attache'd to` the flor-"j werd vslide 36 upon thev tail 35, and passes A forwardly-'into the boat and ar'ou'nd the@ The two control'lever 5 0 is rigidly mounted large pulley`-39, thenee back out over they? rear' 'of t'heboat andaroundthe small pulthe tafil35 isf 'slidu'pon the 4curved'trarne-v work-34.` Thus the angle' of incideneof the' sje- ley-3f? that is carried on the outerendof the frame-'work 34. uponwhich 'the tail slidee.` By turning the pulley 39 it will be 'seen that tail ischanged ae it moves'lforw'ard o'haek upon-the curved frame, and Simultaneously f the tail isruev'ed either toward or' 4away from in flight, the. center of support hfiay be eol' slder'ed ae being' in a line lying beneath 'the aeroplane, and this line'. maybejnlso onf.

"'sidered asz the aeropivotfabout Whiehfthelmachine' willoscillate in itsl up anddfovvn change of 'di rec'tion,-v 'als -hereiinbeforefdee g scribed'. In `moving the ytai-l` forward .or

the tail [will tend te. es'cnl'ete the flmehine about' this imaginary line after 1 thejinan'ner ofi the weightupon aseae beam.. YThe ar lilangenieI it'sf of thel pulleys' 39, 53 and the .cables-18, 38`ar`e Suo-h that when theangle'.

of inoideneeofthe front plane is inereaeed in an' upward direction,y the tail isl moved-f .b aekwardly away from thefaeropivot and the weight Wil-1 remite-tipthe'frene' ofthe ltaneous'ly the angle' ,of incidence of the tail itselfat .agreater angle to the'airjthraugh'-,I

which it `isl rrmving: Thus except for :the e j Weight of, the tail being displ-aeed to effect of thepairl .resistance upon vthe front plane and upon the tail wouldbe-to cause the lgreater distancev from the"aero-pivot,` the machinev to rise upon ali-'even keel. "Should rudder and will'describe'any upward curve.'

tahed4 to the-pulley wheel 56 and-Whoh iS ;f The., yemenrudder iol-ie Operated by: means offthelever .'55 which is rigidly. at# 1 -30 idear/ee loosely mounted upon the shaft 42. lever 55 1s adapted to cooperate with the segment Athat is tixedly mounted upon the frame-work of the boat. The pulley wheel 5G is connected to the front vertical rudder 59, and'to the rear of the boat frame as at 60,.'

The aeroplane l is formed -of a framework 61,'upon which are mounted longii and to permit the rear edge of the aeroplane.

tudinal ribs 62. rllhe frame-work 6l is der pressed in the middle and curved outwardlyy symmetrically from the center line to form.'

the supporting Wings for the vflying machine. rllhe ribs 62 are upwardly curved between the frame 61 and the transverse bar 64, and are downwardly curved after passing the bar 64m their rearward direction. rEhe frame 61,64 and the ribs 62 when coveredwith varnishedor vulcanized silk, or any other -flexible, suitable material, form the supporting plane; rlhe portion of the aeroplane l, which lies between the frame 6l and the bar 64, is smoothly covered by the covered material. The portion. of the aeroplane to the rear of the bar 64 is'arranged such that the material'may form itself into longitudinal air pockets when the machine is in flight. ln o'rder to be able to accomplish this result a V-shaped piece of material is inserted between each of the longitudinal ribs. rlfhis insertion permits the front edge'of the after portion of the aeroplane, that is, the edge immediately in the rear ofl the transverse bar 64, to be smooth to present corrugationsto the air through which the aeroplane is moved. Theelfect of a wing or aeroplane made upon this pattern is to give it all: of the supporting value of a smooth plane and at the same time to make a plane which tends to keep its motion in a forward direction, and 'not to skid laterally when Athe aeroplaneais being controlled to maintain balance.l Ilhe air which passes beneath the aeroplane is more or less condensed and as it passes out under the rear portion of the aeroplane the .corrugations .tend to each form an individual passage for the escape of the condensed gaseous medium. The effect of these individualized currents of air is'to cause the plane to.maintain an even balance, and gives an effect very similar to that obtained by the feathers in the wing. of an eagle.

Throughout the specification the words vertical and 'horizontal as applied to the va- The' rious planes and rudders has reference the osition in which the rudder or 1 i) may lie when the machine is in normal position', and does not refer to the direction in which the rudder or plane would cause machine to travel when dence is changed.

ln the drawings which accompany this specication, the various bracing and trussits angle of incim ing by means of wire cables and turn- .ff

buckles has been omitted for the reason such bracing is well known inr the art and does not form a part of the herein described. invention, therefore this unnecessary complication of lines upon the drawings has been omitted for the sake of clearness.

As many changes could be made .in the above described structureand many'widely derent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing'from' lthe scope thereof, the definite matter contained in the above description and shownlin the accompanying drawings is to be taken asv illustrative and not in its limiting sense. l desire itv also to be understood that the language used inthe claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of this invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might fall therebetween,

Having described my invention what l claim is :e l v 1. ln adying machine, the combination with an aeroplane, a horizontal front rnd-- der, a slidably mounted tail, and means for operatively connecting said front `rudder with said tail.

2.4 ln a flying machine, the combination of a' horizontal. front rudder, a tail, a curved frame upon which the tail is slidably mounted, means operatively connecting said horizontal iudder With said tail in such manner lil@ asto slide said tail upon the curved frame when said front rudder' is operated.

3. ln a flying machine, the combination with a pivoted aeroplane, a front rudder, a rear horizontal tail, operative means connecting said pivoted aeroplane, said horizontal rudder and said tail in such manner adjusted simultanethat they all may be ously.

4. ln a dying machine, .the combination of" a framework, an aeroplane pivoted to` said frame-Work,a front horizontal rudder, a rear horizontal tail, and means operatively connecting the;4 aeroplane, 'the horizontal rudder and the tail in such manner that they may all be adjusted simultaneously.

- ln a flying machine, the combination 'i with a frame-work, an aeroplane pivoted to said frame-work, a horizontal rudder, a tail,

operative means connecting said rudder and said tail, and -means connecting said aeroplane with the operative means in such man- .armrests oor' meente i v til 'I ner that the horizontal rudder, they aeroplane andthe tail may be simultaneously adjusted to different angles of incidence.'

6.- Ina flying machinethe combinationvv with an aeroplane of a horizontal rudder, a rea-r horizontal tailand means'tor simultaneously movingv said tail toward the aero-- plane when the said horizontal rudder is de clined in a forward direction. 7. In a lying machine, 'thejcombination 'vvithan aeroplane, a horizontal rudder, a

' neous-ly moving 1said 't ail avva'y from `the vaeroplane when the horizontal rudder i s inrear horizontal tail and' means lfor simultaclined in a vforward direction.'

u8. In a lyingmachine, .thecombination f -Wit-h a pivoted aeroplane, a horizontal '.ru'di :-der, a tail, and means for simultaneously L moving'the tailin a'longitud-inal'direction 9.y In a' fly-ing machine, the. combination @with -an aeroplane, a front horizontal rudder, a rear horizontal tail, and means operatively connecting said front rudder with said tail, said operative means comprising 'iexib'le cables connecting' said tail and a -trhen thea'eroplane is turned 4ion its pivot.

' large pulley around which saidcables pass,

Y flexible cables connected fto said horizontal -rudder, a's'haft, said pulleys loosely mounted v. leyS', and 'a segment rigidly attachedtosaid o n said shaft, alever connected to said pulshaft, substantially as described'.

l' l0. In a dying machine, the combination with a'.frame- Work,v anaeroplane pivotally mounted upon said frameworln'a' horlzontal'front rudder, -a horizontal tail, means for simultaneously adjusting the aeroplane, the horizontal front 'rudder and the tail, said` means inclu-ding a shaft, 'a gearrigidly connected' with the aeroplane and'meshin'g' with said gear, an operating lever fiXedlyv mounted on. said shaft, a rack operatively attached to said shaft, a segment-attached ed uponsaid shaft,a lever Xedly attached to one'of said pulley wheelsa segment rigidly attached to said shaft and 'coperati'ng `'with said lever.

12. lin ayiiag machine, thecombination V with a frame, of an'aeroplane pivotally mounted upon said frame,I a horizontal rudder, a horizontal tail, operative means con- 4necting the'aeroplane, the rudder and the tail, vsaid means comprising a shaft, a gear I'ixedly mounted upon said shaft, a rack en gaging said gear and operatively connect- Ied with the aeroplane, a segment rigidly attached to said shaft, a pulley Wheel loosely vmounted upon said shaft'fand-operatively connected with the tail,a leve' r rigidly at-l tached to said pulley, a second pulley' loosely mounted upon said shaft,a segment.' mounted. upon -said irst mentioned pulley,

a lever rigidly attached to said second men! tioned pulley, said second mentioned pulley `being operatively connected With said rud-4 der, substantially .as described.

13. In a-flyingmachine, the' combination.

ivith a pivoted aeroplane, a front horizontal rudder, a front vertical rudder, a rear horizontal tail, a vertical plane fixedly mount` ed upon said tail, means to operatesaid' ver- 1 tical rudder, and operative means connecting said horizontalrudder with said tail in such manner as to'adapt said horizontal rudder andv said tail to be movedv simultaneously, said tail being moved away fromvsaid aeroplane when the horizontal rudder lis in-k clined upward and being moved toward' said aeroplane when said horizontal rudder is tipped doWnWar 1 14. In a'tiyingmachine, thecombin-ation of a supportingl plane, a front horizontal rudder, a rear horizontal tail, meansvfor independentlyadjusting the effective angle of' said rudder and said tail with respect vto each other, and means for simultaneously 'operating said' rudder andls'aid tail from their adjusted positions,said last mentioned means comprising a shaft, pulleys rotatably vmounted on said shaft, operative means con- 'necting said pulleys -With said rudder and tail, and alever forlrotating saidpulleys. 

